The launch of “Shop the Look” is Google’s new expansion of its ad platform for retailers aimed at featuring products that are related to a user’s search entry.
This will wrestle the user from other platforms like Instagram and Pinterest and will expand Google’s built-in-visual shopping feature and search ad. It will close in on competition. For the time being, the new ad product is only available in the US where it was launched and is still at a beta stage.
It will be located under Sponsored Links from Google offering shoppable images for what a user is looking for.
When visitor taps on the presented results, the user will be allowed to shop for that particular item and for other articles that are related to the original search. These shoppable looks will be provided by brands, retailers, publishers and bloggers through Google’s partners like Polyvore, LIKEtoKNOW.it, and Curalate.
Google’s recent launch of Showcase Shopping ads is where the new visual search will be found. Shop the Look will increase Google’s revenue because it will be more attractive to online retailers and advertisers in the following ways:
By projecting to retailers and advertisers Google’s advertising proposition – it will be possible for advertisers to tie their Adwords into visual ads while also connecting shoppable images to keywords. This will lead to higher click-through rates because images are more catchy than words. In the meantime, 44% of users make use of “find ideas” to shop and will have more advantage with Shop the Look.
By reducing other competitor’s image-based shopping and social platforms – like we said, apps like Instagram, Pinter’s will lose some of its users. This will be a result of the Shop the Look that Google is introducing to help visitors to find and buy products. This will put Google in direct opposition with Amazon, Facebook, etc.
Engaging users into making purchases – Shop the Look will turn users into buyers with the images it will feature. This is why it will be more appealing to retailers and publishers to use this option in the advertising objectives. This will give Google a feeling of having a social platform as well. Close to 60% consumers in the US visit a blog before making a purchase when interested in buying a mobile device. So, influencer recommendations from Shop the Look will be more effective.
Creating opportunity for camera-based AR search advertising – in no time, users will be provided with an option to take a photo of their purchase interest and submit to Google and will be considered as a visual search query. Google will then return results related to that search. Pinterest is set to launch this feature soon. What this means is that users will get their search result by the pictures they present to Google.
